


Propitious

by lcdsra



Series: LCDSRA's A-Z Soulmate Prompts [16]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26608735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lcdsra/pseuds/lcdsra
Summary: /prəˈpiSHəs/adjective1. giving or indicating a good chance of success; favorable.Or: Valentina didn’t get a good start to life, but there were people to help her along the way.
Relationships: Loki/Marina
Series: LCDSRA's A-Z Soulmate Prompts [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935553





	Propitious

**Author's Note:**

> AU: You’re born with a number of silver and or gold rings around your forearm, supposedly in relation to how many soulmates you have.
> 
> Character(s): Valentina, Marina, Loki, Sasha  
> Relationship(s): Marina & Valentina, Loki & Valentina, Loki/Marina, Sasha & Valentina  
> Warning(s): Threats of violence, panic attack

Valentina met her first soulmate when she was 6. Her mom wasn’t her soulmate, but that wasn’t uncommon. Her father wasn’t her soulmate, she didn’t even know him.

The men that came and went from her house certainly weren’t her soulmates either.

Her four rings, three of silver and one of gold, told her that she had four people in her life that would change her radically, and, theoretically, for the better. The three silver were nearest to her wrist, while the gold edged closer to her elbow.

But the scary men that came to her home weren’t supposed to be there. Her mom tried her best to protect her, Valentina knew, but oftentimes it seemed that men came, and food disappeared. Cabinet space that used to house little cups and dry food now had clear bags of white stuff.

Once, one of the scary men approached her. Though she shrunk down into the closet, he still grabbed her arm and touched the rings around her forearm.

“Four soulmates?” He said aloud, and just then Valentina realized her mom was in the doorway. “They’d miss her if I were to do anything to her, I think.”

“Fine, just get your stuff.” Her mom growled out. “But leave her alone.”

“I don’t know, mom.” He said, thoughtfully. He yanked her up into a standing position. “She’s pretty valuable, don’t you think.”

Her mom looked angry and clenched her teeth. “Stop, this place is basically yours. You don’t have to hurt her.”

The strange man just threw her down and turned to her mom. “I want this closet empty by tomorrow. We have a new shipment coming in.”

“Anything. Just leave Valentina alone.”

The next night, more strange people burst into the house and began shouting. The scary men shouted and yelled and Valentina hid under the sink, and clamped her hands over her ears, crying.

She stayed up for a very long time. Eventually, the shouting died out, replaced by loud sirens that echoed throughout the street, and she just pressed harder. Valentina wanted out. Please.

Eventually, the home was silent. Valentina hesitantly removed her hands and slowed her breathing to hear better. It was something she learned to do when the scary men first came around, and she had to hide.

Whispers, some sounded like her mom, but most, she didn’t recognize. Her mom’s voice stopped. Little did Valentina know that that would be the last time she heard her mom’s voice.

But she did not meet her first soulmate that night, though. Valentina met her first soulmate, one of her platonic ones, in a hospital two days later.

Valentina didn’t know what exactly was happening, but a kind nurse explained as best as she could that her mom couldn’t take care of her anymore, and that she’d find another family soon enough.

She saw, later, the nurse talking to another woman with flaming red hair. And then the red haired woman entered her room, and that was when she met one of her soulmates.

The silver bar closest to her wrist warmed gently when the woman neared.

“Hello? Are you my soulmate?” Valentina asked, pointing to her arm.

The woman glanced at her own, and seemed even more determined than before. “I guess so. My name is Marina, what’s yours?”

“Valentina!”

“That’s a lovely name. May I call you Val?”

Valentina nodded eagerly. Her mom called her Tina sometimes, but Val was just as good. “Yes!”

Marina smiled gently, and almost unconsciously ran a hand over her bands. She had two silvers and one gold. “I was going to talk to you about the foster care system but I think I’d like to talk to you about something else.”

“What?” She asked, hushed.

“How would you feel about adoption instead?”

Though her mom loved her, Marina taught her what a platonic soulmate’s love was. She taught her that she wasn’t defined by what happened to her.

: : :

Valentina met her second soulmate when she was 8.

“I want you to meet this man.” Marina had said to her, the night before. They were staying in a motel that wasn’t unlike her old home, but with less rooms and two large beds. “His name is Loki, and he’s my soulmate.”

“Will he be mine?” Valentina asked, curious.

Marina had grinned. “Maybe. But if he isn’t that’s okay too.”

“Okay.”

It turned out Loki was her soulmate. The silver ring above Marina’s warmed the moment they shook hands, her tiny hand engulfed in his larger one.

“Nice to meet you, little one.” Loki said, hesitantly. “Marina has told me a lot about you.”

She glanced at her adopted mom and she nodded slightly. “Wow. My name is Valentina.”

He smiled a little. “I know your mom calls you Val, but may I call you Tina?”

That, didn’t feel good. Marina seemed to sense it immediately and placed a hand on Valentina’s shoulder. “Maybe just Valentina for now, until she feels more comfortable?” Though the words were said with a smile, the barest hint of a threat laced itself in her words.

Loki stepped back and laughed. It didn’t sound forced, though. “Of course, I’m sorry Valentina.”

True to his word, Loki didn’t touch her again, nor did he call her anything other than Valentina. He was careful and she guessed Marina talked to him when Valentina went to get food.

Later, she sat her down for a talk. “So, is Loki your soulmate?”

Valentina nodded. “I felt a silver one warm.”

“My gold one warmed, which is just as significant as a silver, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“Okay.”

“And, Val, you’ll always be my number one priority. Loki doesn’t change anything.”

“Okay.”

“So, would you be okay with seeing him more often?”

Valentina studied her adopted mom’s expression, but wasn’t sure what she was looking for. “Are you upset that I didn’t like him?”

“No,” Marina shook her head. “I understand that your previous experience with,” she gestured with her wrist, “with men, I guess, hasn’t been the most positive.”

Valentina frowned deeply in thought. “I think I could learn to like him.” She said, then frowned. “I mean, I like him, I guess I don’t,” she trailed off.

“Trust him?” Marina guessed, and she nodded. “You’ll know when you’re ready. You get to choose who you trust and why.”

A few days later, Valentina looked Loki in the eyes and told him he could call her Val.

: : :

Valentina met her third soulmate when she was 11.

Valentina and Marina and Loki settled down in a little apartment, much like her first home, but larger, and for awhile, it was just them. Valentina went to school, Marina went to work, and Loki stayed home to work.

Then, Sasha moved to the apartment next to them. The moving machines were loud and people were shouting across the hall and Valentina found herself in that place again, from when she was 6. Her heart pounded against her ribcage and she wanted to scream.

Except this time, she had two soulmates to calm her down. They held her and soothed her as her breathing steadied from the irregular gasps for air to gentle, quiet breathes.

“Do you want to meet the new neighbors?” Loki suggested, once Valentina calmed enough to drink water and eat a little.

Marina glanced at her. “Let’s wait for them to get settled. Moving day's rough enough without nosy neighbors peaking in every few hours.”

Privately, Valentina knew that Marina said that more for her sake than her neighbors.

The next day, Valentina helped Loki make cookies and Marina was taking the weekend shift, so they went without her. The cookies were in a simple plastic bag with string to keep it shut, clutched in her fist.

Valentina knocked on the door, and for a second, she was worried no one would answer. But the plain door swung open and a girl, about her height, stared back at her.

“Hello?” The girl asked, glancing from Valentina to the cookies in her hand. “Are you looking for momma?”

Valentina glanced up at Loki, “We’re your neighbors. We made you cookies.” Valentina handed her the bag.

Their hands touched as the cookies were passed along, and Valentina felt that now familiar warmth radiant from her third, and final silver ring. “Oh, wow.”

The girl glanced at her forearm, then back at Valentina. “Did you feel that?”

“Yeah, it’s our soulmate mark.” Valentina explained. “Silver, for platonic.”

Loki seemed surprised, but smiled. “Marina will be overjoyed, I think. Maybe we could meet your parents, if they’re home?”

“Wait,” Valentina put up her hands, and Loki froze. “What’s your name?”

The girl grinned. “Sasha. And you?”

“Valentina. It’s nice to meet you.”

Sasha’s mom was nice, she thanked Loki for the cookies and let Sasha come over to play. Sasha moved to Valentina’s school and she found that the girl was radically different at school than at home.

Sasha dyed her hair bright purple, after convincing her parents to let her, despite the school’s policy. She broke the dress code on a near daily basis, and laughed when the school authorities demanded she remove it.

Sasha showed her what freedom looked like.

: : :

Valentina never found her fourth soulmate.

The gold band, nestled further away from her other bands and closer to her elbow, never warmed, despite the fact she traveled far and wide.

But, maybe, in a roundabout way, her fourth soulmate taught her what patience was. And what letting go was like.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been a victim of a selfish kind of love  
> It's time that I realize  
> That there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan  
> Could it be really me, pretending that they're not alone?
> 
> \- Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson


End file.
